Interview
with Anton Cronin
JAMES:
For your solos… do you get to
choreograph your own?
ANTON:
I get help from other fellas in the show… Richard, as with Clare, if
he likes something or doesn’t, he’ll tell you. I put in as much as I can, but Richard will
always support what’s best.
JAMES:
How long have you been with the
show?
ANTON:
I’ve been with it from day one. How many shows we done? I’ve missed 2 shows…
through injury…
JAMES:
Have you ever slipped onstage?
ANTON:
Yep! In Confrontation I got pushed…
JAMES:
Too hard?
ANTON:
Not even too hard… I just wasn’t ready for it!
JAMES:
Did you get up really quickly?
ANTON:
No, I just lay there! How are you supposed to fake being on the floor? I made it look
like part of the dance!
JAMES:
Is there anything you do to psyche
yourself up before a performance?
ANTON:
Not really! In particular parts
of the show… like when Clare dies… I have to really focus.
Not on anything in particular… just that, ‘this is serious.’
JAMES:
What’s your favourite part of
the show?
ANTON:
The end of The Betrayal, with
Clare. And The Burial. They’re really strong.
JIMMY:
Who do you think was the one
who instigated all this trouble in the show? Who really started it all?
ANTON:
Timmy was, mate! Nah, I’d say it was Clare! I don’t know… when the first
love duet finished Clare pushes Timmy away like, ‘This can’t happen…’ but… it does! I’m the nice guy!
JAMES:
Who is your favourite dancer?
ANTON:
I’d say Flatley… if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be doing this.
In the troupe… just everyone.
Everyone has their ups and downs, but we work so hard. We work
every day. Clare is always onstage,
always changing her costume. I’m just walking around having a laugh! But Clare especially, works hard!
JAMES:
What were you doing before joining
Gaelforce?
ANTON:
I was a plumber!
JAMES:
How did you get into Irish Dancing
then?
ANTON: 
I started when I was six... my Mum got me into it and I showed
a talent for it. I always wanted to play me football, but I’m
glad I stuck with it.
JAMES:
Did you ever get people making
fun of you at school, or did you try to keep it a secret?
ANTON:
Plenty of times. I tried to
keep it a secret, but it’s hard because your mum tells everyone… and
they see you on TV as well for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations! I
tried to hide it, but…!
JIMMY:
What will you do after this?
ANTON:
Take a big holiday!! Nah, I’ll stick with this as long as I can, it’s
a great show and I love doing the encores… finishing a show and seeing
everyone… its an amazing feeling…looking at the audiences and going,
‘Wow, this is all for us!’ I’ll
stick with this as long as it goes.
JAMES:
Do you get any Gaelforce
groupies? Any screaming fans?
ANTON:
Not so much girls, we’ve got this fella from Germany, he came over to
a few shows in England and all the Belfast shows… he’s been to over
60 shows.
JAMES:
What do you think of people like that?
ANTON:
He’s great – you can go out and chat to him… and if people aren’t onstage
he’ll ask about them by name… we’re all on first name basis...
JIMMY:
Maybe he sent the flowers…!
FRANK:
He’s a really nice bloke… it was a bit spooky at first but once we talked
with him… he’s really nice. And at the end of the German tour he presented all the dancers a
map of Germany with photos of all the venues we’d been to.
JIMMY:
I guess in one way it’s a bit strange at first… but if you had 100,000
of those you’d be alright!
JAMES:
Do you get any mad fans or stalkers?
ANTON:
No, not yet!
JIMMY:
That might come when you’re more famous!
FRANK:
I think that can happen when your too stand-offish, there’s not one
of the cast that I couldn’t walk up to and ask them to come out and
meet these fans.
JAMES:
What’s your personal favourite
venue you have played at for audience response?
ANTON:
Hmmm… well, I can’t name a particular one… Liverpool – the audience
response has been amazing. They
go sick! Even in Germany! You
wouldn’t think they would like a dance show so much!
JIMMY:
And British people are supposed to be more reserved…
ANTON:
We got major criticism at the Albert Hall, we thought the critics didn’t
like us, but we had only one bad critic and that was at Glasgow and
people complained to the paper and said ‘Did you even see the show?’ because the audience response that night
was amazing!
FRANK:
Yes, people wrote in saying ‘This reviewer is an idiot!’ They
actually put the replies in the newspaper.
JAMES:
Do you read the reviews? Do you
pay attention to them?
ANTON:
I do. They’ve never said anything
bad about me yet! But I pay
attention to the good ones, but if they say bad things then that’s their
opinion. If there’s 15,999 left
and you’re the one who doesn’t like it… you cant let that affect you. Lord
of the Dance and Riverdance
got bashed in the Albert Hall… there’s not much you can do to please
some of these people
JIMMY:
Well, it was a great show tonight and everyone enjoyed it very much.
ANTON:
We love doing it. Sometimes
we don’t, but most of the time we do!
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